Consultants commenced viewing particular training lecture rooms throughout Frederick County Community Educational institutions on Tuesday as part of an impartial audit.
The audit arrives at the suggestion of FCPS’ Blue Ribbon Undertaking Force, which was fashioned in reaction to a U.S. Office of Justice investigation that exposed the district was systematically misusing seclusion and restraint versus college students with disabilities.
The district contracted with Community Consulting Group (PCG) to carry out the audit at a charge of $145,000.
The classroom visits, which are also established to consider place on Wednesday and Thursday, are a single of the first concrete steps in the process.
At a virtual kickoff conference final week, some of the PCG consultants released by themselves to community associates, laid out their ideas and took questions.
The PCG crew ideas to check out lecture rooms at up to 19 educational facilities around three times, they said.
The visits are not “evaluative in character,” said Matthew Scott, 1 of the lead consultants on the staff.
“We are looking at a broad group of classrooms and options to much better comprehend how college students are presented companies,” Scott said.
Right after the visits, PCG will perform aim teams and surveys for district employees, parents and local community customers, together with users of the Blue Ribbon Activity Force and the Specific Education and learning Citizens Advisory Committee.
The district will share facts about how to sign up for focus teams later on on in the system, the consultants stated.
The consultants will evaluate FCPS university student facts, way too, Scott explained. The audit will incorporate an evaluation of race, ethnicity and earnings details for students with Person Education and learning Strategies (IEPs), willpower info for learners with disabilities and more.
Individuals figures will be in contrast to figures at the condition and countrywide level, Scott reported.
The framework stems from “an urgent require to increase expectations and increase instructional outcomes in distinctive education” across the nation.
PCG will finalize its report to FCPS in April and support the district develop an “action plan” to answer to what it finds.
The consultants can enable the district apply that action strategy at an supplemental cost, Scott stated, if officials request the additional assistance.
FCPS’ agreement with PCG is set to expire in June.
FCPS has budgeted about $3 million for the audit response in its draft fiscal plan for fiscal 12 months 2024.
